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"Once I found out what to expect, I expected what I found,"
Avon Edward Foote in 2004, paraphrasing a famous quote by kinsman Shelby Foote

Betty Rankin's Statement, Meeting of
PROTECT PRINCE WILLIAM,
Manassas, Virginia, February 13, 1994


[The founding of Protect Prince William came before the founding of Protect Historic America under Rudy Abramson]

As president of the Save the Battlefield Coalition, I am here to support the efforts of PROTECT to stop the Disney threat.

As Disney markets the fun of virtual reality, Manassas National Battlefield Park will endure the actual reality of boundaries unprotected by either historical overlays or viewsheds. The inevitable congestion and sprawl a Disney theme park would create could destroy the integrity and sanctity of Manassas. What Disney's America will forever diminish in our America is irreplaceable.

Five years ago thousands of Americans across the nation rallied together in the third Battle of Manassas saving the battlefields from a mega mall. Then as now, there is a strong will to preserve our heritage. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has included Disney's America as a threat to Manassas and other historic areas in Virginia.

In 1988 one of our staunch supporters, Jody Powell, spoke and wrote eloquently on behalf of our national heritage and to warn of the desecration of Manassas. His words from an article titled " Battling over Manassas" (published in National Parks, July/August, 1988) now seem very appropriate for describing the impact of Disney. I want to share them with you.

And I quote . . .

Thousands of tourists pour into roads already inadequate for our growing population. The two-lane pike where a great union brigade wheeled to repulse Jackson's surprise assault will become a four-lane thoroughfare packed with the cars of shoppers and commuters. Traffic jams will stretch for miles through the battlefields of both First and Second Manassas.

Today you can still see it, feel it: That bload-soaked, valor-hallowed piece of Virginia country side where the entire Union tottered on the brink of destruction.

The landscape has not changed. In rare and mystical moments you can relive the battle scene. But not for long.

Throughout the land, Civil War and Revolutionary War battlefields - as well as many other units of the National Park system - are threatened.

The attitude that open space is just land waiting to be developed has prevailed in this country. Highrise condominiums, television and radio towers, housing subdivisions - and shopping malls are springing up in every available square mile. What is the purpose of preserving a historical scene if the area is then intruded upon by adjacent development?

As a country, we simply have not yet been willing to make an investment in our national heritage that is sufficient to guarantee its preservation. And, many of those who speak frequently and fervently of our nation's past glories seem largely uninterested in lifting a finger to protect any of them.

We all must realize that the impact of Disney's proximity to the battle fields is a threat. It will not go unchallenged.

Letter Writer's Achievements in 1995: According to Save the Battlefield Coalition, Betty Rankin was president and co-founder of the organization with Annie Snyder; an educator of students with mental retardation; and recipient of several awards including -- International Exchange of Experts and Information in Rehab Fellowship; Peace/International Relations Award, Virginia Education Association; IBM Teacher of the Year; and Planning Commission Civic Commendation for Exemplary Contribution to Land Use Planning in Prince William County, Virginia. She was listed in Who's Who in American Education. Rankin Acknowledged her Shelby Foote kinship in a letter to Annie Snyder.



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Reviewed  .  Revised  .  Refreshed   28 June 2009 Our 14th Year